


Pegasus

by shadowandrhyme



Series: Radioactive [1]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Fluff, M/M, Stars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-29
Updated: 2013-09-29
Packaged: 2017-12-27 23:18:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/984826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowandrhyme/pseuds/shadowandrhyme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sasha has a dream. He wants to see the stars, but when he looks up, there is no sky. When he meets Alex, it becomes obvious that dreams can come true.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pegasus

**Author's Note:**

  * For [july_v](https://archiveofourown.org/users/july_v/gifts).



> This is a story from a post-apocalypse 'verse.
> 
>  
> 
> _The world has changed. Due to the unrestricted pollution, the Earth became inhabitable. The rich countries, the powerful countries, they built great underground communities to survive;enourmous shelters that fit whole cities inside. Years passed and children were born. There was a whole generation who never saw the sun and the sky and their whole world is the underground._
> 
>  
> 
> I'm not saying it's the most imaginative idea, and I bet I've been influenced by things on the internet, and I bet there are faults in the whole idea, but I really enjoy it. I'm planning a Geno/Sid story set in here which will actually have more about the post-apocalypse things, because this one doesn't. It's just fluff. A little cheesy, maybe, so consider yourself warned.

Sasha sees the stars.

He is lying on his back in soft, cool grass, the dew soaking into his T-shirt, and gazing up at the inky sky. It stretches on as far as he can see, peppered with billions of tiny stars.They seem to move, twirling and spiralling through the sky, just the way milk does when Sasha's mama pours it into her tea. He moves his hand upwards, as if to touch the stars, and it hits solid wood.

He opens his eyes. The room is bathed in the red emergency light, and Sasha drops his hand and blinks at the bottom of the bunk bed above his. His sister is sleeping there, but right now Sasha feels alone, lonely in his bed. He blinks at the glow-in-the-dark stars that he had glued all over the bed, trying to imitate the constellations he read about; they usually bring him comfort. Right now he hates them for looking so fake.

He turns onto his side and closes his eyes, hoping to fall asleep again. Maybe he will dream about stars.

Sasha was born underground. He doesn't know anyone who wasn't; nowadays there are only a few left who remember how it was to not live here. He heard that people who were forced to move down died very quickly, that they couldn't bear to not see the sky when they looked up and not feel the wind of their skin and not be warmed by the sunlight. He doesn't know; his parents were born here, he was born here. He doesn't remember his grandparents.

He has never seen the sky and the stars, and there is nothing he wants more than that. Someone told him that the pollution is so thick outside that it was impossible to see any stars anyway, but he still wishes that they didn't live in the underground, but on the surface. He looks at photographs in books and watches films and dreams about stars every night.

Sasha meets Alex when he's twenty-one and they are both fulfulling their military training. It's obligatory in the underground, but Sasha doesn't mind that much. He is good at sports and it's easy for him to get through the drills. Only a few other people do, but only one of them, a tall, gap-toothed boy that's grinning constantly does it as easily as Sasha. They are standing at the end of the obstacle run track and Sasha is breathing deeply to calm his heartbeat. 

“That was awesome!” the gap-toothed boy who had been watching Sasha's run says, sticking his hand out and enthusiastically shaking Sasha's without any aparent need for Sasha's cooperation. “My name is Alex!” He makes a face, letting go of Sasha's hand. “Well, it's Alexander. But only my mama calls me that when she's angry with me.”

Sasha's mouth twitches into a smile. Alex's enthusiasm is stupidly contagious. “I'm Sasha,” he introduces himself as well. 

Alex is delighted about the fact that they have the same name and from that point on, he becomes a constant presence at Sasha's side.

Sasha doesn't confide his dream to Alex during the months of military training. He dreams about the stars every night, but after a few weeks, he isn't alone anymore when he gazes at the night sky. Alex is there, too, holding Sasha's hand and talking about the constellations with ease, as if he knew their names before he could really say anything else.

Even after the military training, they remain friends. Sasha finds a job as an electrician, helping his papa in the first months, and Alex goes to university. Sasha has never asked about Alex's background, but if he can get into a university, he has to be important, or his family. Normally, people don't go to university. There is a need for workers, not scholars.

Alex invites Sasha to his home the night before he goes to university, to celebrate, he says. He has managed to get some alcohol, which only proves Sash's theory. The prohibition has always been there, as long as Sasha remembers, and the idea of being able to get a bottle of vodka, just like Alex did, is uncomprehensible. 

Alex still lives with his parents, just as Sasha does; the house is big, much bigger than Sasha's parents' house. The furniture looks expensive, polished and clean, and Sasha is almost afraid to sit on the couch at first.

He gets drunk quickly and as they lie on the ground, their arms touching, he whispers: “Do you think that wishes come true?”

Alex hiccups in reply. “Maybe. Why?”

Sasha can't turn his head to look at Alex. Instead, he continues to stare at the ceiling and imagines there are stars covering it. “I have a wish. It's something I've wanted for... ever since I can remember.” He pauses, as if waiting for Alex to prompt him into speaking more, and Alex takes Sasha's hand in his own and squeezes. The floor sways under Sasha. “I want to see the stars. The real stars, not... not simulations in labs or pictures or videos. I want to be able to look up, like we do now, and see the stars.”

There is silence for a few seconds when he finishes and Sasha finds hiself embarrassed, closing his eyes and ready to blame it on being drunk. Then Alex chuckles and says: “But that's not a problem.”

Sasha is staring at Alex when he explains that his mama works in a laboratory that observes the atmosphere on the surface, and the immediate surroundings of the Earth. He tells Sasha that he used to go there when he was a child and his mama would teach him the names of constellations; Sasha remembers his dreams. The ground sways even more, and he feels tired.

“Will you take me there?” he asks, pleading. 

Alex smiles, wide, gap-toothed. “Of course, Sashka, I will show you the stars.”

That night, Sasha doesn't dream. When he sees the stars the next time, he has Alex's wrist in a vice grip and the real, actual stars as seen through a telescope, projected on the wall inside the laboratory, tiny white dots peppering the inky sky. 

“That's Pegasus,” Alex says. “You have to imagine half of it, and it's feet-up, so when I was a kid, I'd always think it should be called Octopus. It's one of my favourites.” He points out the brightest stars, tells Sasha their names, and shows him other constellations, but Pegasus remains Sasha's favourite.

He wishes he could turn into the creature and fly away, but when he is standing in front of all the stars with Alex, somehow he feels like this is the next best thing. He feels happy.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [july_v](http://archiveofourown.org/users/july_v) for the beta job! <3


End file.
